canning tomatoes ???

I will be canning tomatoes today, but I'm confused...some places say to add salt and lemon juice to the jars and other don't. I'm just doing a simple diced tomato in it's juice. Any benefits to adding the salt and lemon juice?

[RiverRock]

I think both salt and lemon juice would help the tomatoes not to discolour. I canned stewed tomatoes a couple of weeks ago, but my recipe calls for a bit of course salt and sugar (as well as chopped green peppers, onions and celery). I've never heard of adding lemon juice to tomatoes, but it is often added to jam recipes. I thought for jam it was to help the jam thicken when using a long-boil method....something to do with the pectin.

[Anani]

I have noticed when I use lemon juice, the tomatoes don't fade in color.

[kklibrarian]

It is to avoid discoloration.

so, it's not the end of the world if i don't add it...

[Anani]

Not at all.
Just don't be surprised if your tomatoes look kinda orangey-whiteish next summer

if they last that long

[Anani]

I can so many they last all year.
But then again, I am the only person in the house who likes tomatoes in anything other than red marinara sauce.

I have to sneak them in other stuff.

Originally Posted by Anani

I can so many they last all year.

I'd love to hear how you do them.

[Macky]

No no NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Lemon juice is there to increase the acidity of your tomatoes. Contrary to what you might think, tangier tomatoes from the garden are NOT usually any higher in acid than the cardboard... um, tomatoes you get from the grocery store. You MUST add the lemon juice to make your tomatoes safe for canning in a boiling water bath. 1 tablespoon per pint jar. Salt and sugar are usually additions for flavour. You may use tried and true recipes from family and friends, but if you're just getting started you really should use approved recipes from reputable sources and DO NOT adjust the quantities in the recipe. For example, adding more peppers to a safe salsa recipe can mess with your acidity and make the recipe unsafe. (FYI, you don't add lemon juice to a salsa because it already has vinegar.) Plus, it's advised that when you do use lemon juice (for plain tomatoes or sauce) in a recipe, you should use bottled juice instead of fresh squeezed because the acidity level is consistent. Tomatoes don't need lemon juice to preserve colour - it's for safety!

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_03/...uice_pack.html

You can also learn a lot from this harvest forum:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/harvest/

The first time I canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, I left the skins and seeds on the toms because they didn't really bother me. I did everything by the book and they tasted awful. I blamed the lemon juice. This year, after reading a lot in that harvest forum (above), I decided to do the extra work and skin and seed the toms before chopping. I've already tasted some of the jars and they are delicious! The strange flavour I was attributing to the lemon juice was actually bitterness caused by the seeds.

To sum up... YES, USE LEMON JUICE!

[Anani]

I follow this website.
Its close to my grandmother's way of doing it. She doesn't have hers written down and I havent ever taken the time to write down the steps when we do it together.